Amid Tom Brady’s bemoaning of the “mediocrity in today’s NFL”, New England Patriots insider Ben Volin of the Boston Globe suggested an option for retired quarterback.
“Brady could do his part by signing with the [Las Vegas] Raiders,” Volin wrote on X, formerly Twitter in reference to Brady’s comments on the Stephen A. Smith Show on Monday, November 21.
Whether or not Volin wrote that in seriousness or humor remains to be seen. Since Brady’s February 1 retirement from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he delved into sports franchise ownership. That included his pursuit of part ownership in the Raiders, which hasn’t come to fruition yet.
Brady has been around the Raiders this season despite the pending part ownership. He could fill a need in Las Vegas with former Patriots quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo sidelined and rookie Aiden O’Connell taking lumps.
Tom Brady: ‘I’m Actually a Little More Disciplined Now’
Brady admitted that he’s keeping in shape and staying disciplined in retirement at age 46, but he expressed that playing football was stressful. The seven-time Super Bowl champion played 20 seasons with the Patriots from 2000 to 2019 followed by three with the Buccaneers from 2020 to 2022.
“Today I was out there doing sprints,” Brady told Smith. “I was trying to really just stay on top of it. So you know, I know one way, and that’s just … to keep my body as in the best shape I possibly can.”
“I’m actually a little more disciplined now because I think … with football there’s a lot of stress, you know. So you have different things that kind of come on, and you’re dealing with, you know, [air] plane food, and you know, hotel food, and the night before the game and right after the game.”
“And you know you probably let yourself slip a little bit,” Brady added. “Now that I don’t have probably the daily stress that I had with football, because it’s such an intensity, especially for this time of the season.”
Tom Brady Rants on Today’s NFL
Though Brady plans to broadcast NFL games with FOX next year, he isn’t liking what he sees as an observer this year.
“I think there’s a lot of mediocrity in today’s NFL. I don’t see the excellence that I saw in the past,” Brady told Smith.
“I don’t think the development of young players is as good as it was. I don’t think the schemes are as good as they were,” Brady continued. “The rules have allowed a lot of bad habits to get into the actual performance of the game. . . . So I just think the product in my opinion is less than what it’s been.”
Brady added that NFL rule changes that favor the offense or player safety aren’t helping, either.
This may be the WORST roughing the passer penalty I’ve ever seen. Embarrassingly bad call. The Falcons got screwed.
(🎥: @TrainIsland)
“I look at a lot of players like Ray Lewis and Rodney Harrison and Ronnie Lott and guys that impacted the game in a certain way — and every hit they would have made would have been a penalty,” Brady continued.
“You hear coaches complaining about their own player being tackled and not necessarily — why don’t they talk to their player about how to protect himself? . . . We used to work on the fundamentals of those things all the time. Now they’re trying to be regulated all the time,” Brady said.
“Offensive players need to protect themselves,” Brady concluded. “It’s not up to a defensive player to protect an offensive player. A defensive player needs to protect himself. . . . I think a lot of the way that the rules have come into play have allowed this — you can essentially play carefree and then if anyone hits you hard, there’s a penalty.”
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Patriots Insider Suggests Tom Brady Comeback Option After Complaint